Carol Rosenfeld, 47, a consultant living in Los Angeles, and her Salt Lake City-based teammate, Brandy Snow, a 40-year-old actress, were the second team to have their run ended by the dreaded U-Turn on this season of The Amazing Race. The former girlfriends spoke with PEOPLE about being labeled “mean lesbians,” how they really feel about Caite Upton and how the competition cost them their relationship. –Carrie BellYou said on the show that “dumb did us in.” Did anything else was contribute to your elimination other than the U-Turn?Brandy: The U-Turn was the end of us. We were totally blindsided and did not consider ourselves the biggest threat.Carol: It was funny and surprising to see how big of a threat [the cops] thought we were.Brandy: It was a very physically competitive race and we did the best we could in every situation. We brought our best game. I don’t have regrets about how we played it and I don’t have any about how we treated any of the other teams. We were very focused on our performance and not on the other racers. Caite had particularly nasty things to say about you in her explanation for why they u-turned you.Brandy: We weren’t mean. There are way more clips of her hating on us. To be labeled mean for an off-handed comment while Jordan is on national television doing a spot-on and hysterical imitation of her seems like a gross double-standard. We were vilified for a comment that was not meant in any way to be a judgment call.Carol: If the meanness was so constant, why didn’t they air any of it? I made a joke on day one [about her] racing in her sash and tiara. I thought it was funny then and I still think it’s funny.Brandy: When we were around them, I felt we were nothing but respectful and kind.Your reaction and exit speeches were memorable to say the least.Brandy: I was nervous for last night because I knew I had reacted poorly. When I’m attacked and sabotaged, I go to the fight instinct. The gloves came off. Perhaps the name-calling and impersonations were not the best sportsmanship, but as tired as we were and as emotionally invested as we were in the competition and to have it all taken away, I reacted honestly in the moment.Are you able to forgive and forget?Carol: Well, me being a mean lesbian and all, they don’t want to run into me in a dark alley.Brandy: It‘s been an emotional roller coaster watching it and being labeled. This is my national coming out party. My friends and family knew I’d been in same-sex relationships, but in general people didn’t know. I partially did it because we were only the second lesbian couple on the race. I wanted to raise awareness and be positive.Carol: I’m very hesitant to say Caite is homophobic because that’s a very harsh statement. But, man, to watch her saying the “mean lesbians this and that” in that derisive tone week after week, it’s hard not to let your mind go there.Your exit means yet another season without an all-female team in the finale.Carol: We won’t see an all-female team win as long as we have to race in men’s boots … When the guys have to start running in high heels, it‘ll be a fair fight. You had been dating less than a year when you started. How’d that affect your relationship?Carol: Getting ready for the race hijacked the honeymoon part of our relationship … Our relationship was more disposable because of its newness. I cannot recommend this for new couples.Brandy: It took a toll. We’re living in different cities and focusing on being friends right now.Did you take away any good memories?Brandy: I liked Malaysia the most because we worked together best on that leg and we did all the tasks. I loved the culture and the it was beautiful and our cab driver rocked.Carol: Even though I stepped in llama s— and got kicked by a cow, South America far exceeded my expectations. Those volcanoes were stunning.

This week, on The Amazing Race, the dreaded U-Turn made its way to Singapore, along with the remaining five teams. Brent and Caite rushed to finish their Detour so that they would have the opportunity to get some revenge on Carol and Brandy, who they feel have been rude to them from the very beginning. Forced to complete both tasks, Carol and Brandy fell to the bottom of the pack and were the last to arrive at the pit stop. Today, the eliminated team talked to RealityWanted in an exclusive interview about the way they went out, their feelings towards Brent and Caite today, and what lies ahead for them.

Q. David, RealityWanted: Whose idea was it to try out for The Amazing Race this season?A. Carol: A friend suggested that we go on it because we had good energy and there hadn't been too many lesbians on the show, plus no two women had won before. It was intriguing and we weren't too particularly familiar with the show; we hadn't even been together that long when someone suggested we try out for it, maybe 4 or 5 months. Definitely the least out of anyone.

Q. David, RealityWanted: Did you do any preparation before you headed into the race, physically or mentally?A. Brandy: We didn't just watch them, we studied them and we talked about tasks and what we would pick and why and who would be better at what. We even studied what they were wearing! And we worked out a ton.A. Carol: I went hiking with my pack a lot. I would jam stuff in it and then make sure I could handle it all. We also practiced bungee jumping, which was a mistake because I didn't have fear of heights before we did that, but after was a different story.

Q. David, RealityWanted: Did the two of you talk about how you were going to handle stressful situations before you went on the race? How do you feel you communicated with one another once you were on it?A. Carol: There wasn't going to be one person who was in charge. We knew if one person felt strongly about something, we were going to go for the stronger opinion. One example was the sauerkraut, when Brandy was so confident about it, I had no choice but to say she was absolutely right. We knew we wouldn't be fulfilling the traditional roles.

Q. David, RealityWanted: Brent and Caite felt, from the beginning, that you were mean and condescending towards them. Looking back on it, and having seen the episodes, do you regret anything that you said about them?A. Carol: You know, I made a joke day 1 in passing about how she would be racing in her sash and her tiara. I also made a joke about being amazed that the cowboys were racing in their magic hats, so if that makes me a mean person, so be it. I was surprised at the animosity because we didn't hate them, we don't hate them, either. A. Brandy: I think they were manipulated a lot by Mike and Louie, too. We were labeled "the lesbians" as a group and I think she might have an issue with us as lesbians. Yes, we didn't go out of our way to be friends, but were always on different planes or different buses--there wasn't much opportunity to interact with them. There's no excuse for unsportsmanlike talk, but I'm owning everything I said last night.

Q. David, RealityWanted: How much did being U-Turned set you back? How long after Michael and Louie did you arrive at the pit stop?A. Carol: We did two tasks in maybe 15 minutes more than it had taken Mike and Louie and the Cowboys to do just one tasks. I think we were making up time, but it still would have been impossible to catch them. We blew though the ice cream, though, and we didn't even have our cab driver by 10 dollars of it, either!

Q. David, RealityWanted: If you were the ones to arrive at the U-Turn first, would you have used it?A. Carol: Yes, but we would have used it on the Cowboys. They'd won the most legs, the leg prior they'd set an Amazing Race record; they were clearly the most consistent competitors. If they weren't available, we would have done Mike and Louie and, if not them, Brent and Caite.

Q. David, RealityWanted: How confident were you that you would make it to the final leg of the race?A. Carol: With each leg, we gained more confidence. I remember at the beginning of the race, I looked around and I saw all these strong teams. They could lift more, run faster; we just needed to be consistent and not make mistakes. At the point of the U-Turn, we were running in third, so yeah, pretty good odds.A. Brandy: We tried to focus on the race, not the racers, and I think that helped a lot.

Q. David, RealityWanted: How has running The Amazing Race changed your relationship with one another?A. Carol: It's a unique experience. You're put in stressful, sleep-deprived situations that don't reflect the worst things that can happen to you in real life. You know a lot of the other teams were siblings and friends--they've had every fight they could ever have. Our emotional investment was not as great as some other people, but I think we did great all things considered.

CBSCarol Rosenfeld and Brandy Snow wanted to become the first female team to win The Amazing Race, but unfortunately their time on the show was cut short on Sunday night after they encountered the dreaded U-Turn. The couple were forced to complete a second detour at the hands of Caite and Brent - who claimed they had been mean to them - and finished bottom of the pack in Singapore, telling Phil: "Dumb did us in." We gave them a call to find out if they've patched things up with Caite and Brent, and how the experience affected their relationship.

Are you still angry about the U-Turn?Brandy: "I'm disappointed about it because the way the season has unfolded, it's really come to show less of a strategic and intelligent move, and more of a very personal, pretty hatred and prejudiced move. We were entirely unaware of that. We were blindslided by the U-Turn in the first place and it was shocking to us and didn't make any sense at the time. Now watching it, and watching her label us and hate us for that label, it's been a pretty stunning experience. I'm not mad about the U-Turn, I'm more disappointed, shocked and dismayed by the hatred she has generated towards us - not as individuals, or even separate people or people with names - we are the 'mean lesbians'."Carol: "I'm very hesitant to call anybody homophobic because I think it's a really harsh label, but I think she's a bit of a hypocrite. She talks about all the haters who made fun of her YouTube and beauty pageant debacle a few years ago, but quite honestly, she's in that group. It's, 'The lesbians, the mean lesbians'... I'm like, 'We have names!'"Brandy: "None of makes any sense, so the only way I can try to logically make sense of it is that, while I wouldn't necessarily call her homophobic, I would say she has a problem with lesbians and she particularly had a problem with us as lesbians. We are strong, independent, intelligent women, willing to work hard at every turn, and the further we progressed in the race, the more attention we were stealing from her, and she's used to getting attention."

Caite said you were mean to her. Do you still maintain that you weren't?Carol: "I made a joke on day one saying, 'Is she racing with her sash and tiara?'. There seems to be a double standard. Jordan does the most hysterical, spot-on imitation of her. We didn't know who she was until Jordan did his imitation, Brandy had never even seen the YouTube video. So, it's okay for Jordan to do his imitation but not okay for me to make a joke. You think someone who has been through what she has would be a little more self deprecating and able to joke about herself, but I guess that's not the case."

Have you spoken to Caite and Brent since the show?Brandy: "No, no, the thing is, I'm 40, Carol is 47, they are in their twenties. We don't have anything specifically in common with them. We get along with Daniel and Jordan really well. I think they are both well-educated, intelligent boys and we enjoyed spending time with them. We thought we got on with Mike and Louie, so them speaking ill of us in the Seychelles I considered to be backstabbing. As this unfolded, I recognized that their play is very smart, kind of dirty, definitely more gamesmanship than I expected to see. I was really complimentary of Caite, and had thought at one point - because I used to scout and place models on contract in Asia - about talking to her about her career. She said we weren't friendly, but why does the onus lie with us specifically? I know more about Caite based on the brief few conversations I had with her and Brent than she knows about me. She never asked any questions about me."Carol: "And all he ever did was talk about himself."

Is it fair to say that the U-Turn was directly responsible for your elimination?Brandy: "We were running in third and we still managed to run into both Michael and Louie and Jet and Cord at the shipyard. We weren't running that far behind and if we hadn't been hobbled by that 30 or 40 minute delay of traveling to the park, finding out we were U-Turned, going and selling the ice-cream, returning to the park, we would have come ahead of those two teams."Carol: "It was Mike and Louie's savior really that there was a U-Turn."

How has the race affected your relationship?Carol: "I don't think it necessarily affected our relationship. I think the unfortunate reality for Brandy and I right now is that we are living in different cities so maintaining something long-distance is a difficult proposition. We both came back and had to go to separate cities and immediately both started working, so we haven't had the chance to take some time off or a vacation."

Did you discover anything about yourselves that you didn't know before during the race?Carol: "That Brandy's afraid of heights!"Brandy: "I didn't know that about myself! Although it's not really about heights, it's more triggered by an intense dislike of bungee jumping! It's not about what we learned as individuals, it's about us together. We can step outside of any frustration or bickering and are both strong-willed, opinionated women. We would butt heads occasionally, but we learned we can kind of push all that aside when it comes down to it, and really step up to the task. I'm incredibly proud of how we played the game with integrity. It was a very empowering experience."

Finally, as world travelers, what was the best experience of the entire race?Carol: "For me it was South America. I was just overwhelmed by the beauty of Patagonia and the good news is I think I'm going back on business later this year! I thought Kuala Lumpur was fabulous, and even though we just connected through there, it was an amazing looking city and such a cool mix of cultures. Without fail I will be going back."Brandy: "I loved the helicopter ride in the Seychelles, that was just exquisite. I definitely loved Argentina and want to go back and explore more, and Champagne region!"

Q. David, RealityWanted: How much did being U-Turned set you back? How long after Michael and Louie did you arrive at the pit stop?A. Carol: We did two tasks in maybe 15 minutes more than it had taken Mike and Louie and the Cowboys to do just one tasks. I think we were making up time, but it still would have been impossible to catch them. We blew though the ice cream, though, and we didn't even have our cab driver by 10 dollars of it, either!

Every 45 seconds of waiting for cabbies in S'pore = 20 centsLess than 10 dollars... That's around 37.5 minutes spent at the ice cream Detour.

And the Yield was only 15 minutes.

Anyway, i thought that the U-TURN should always be in close proximity.. and this season it was unfair because C/B had to travel from Speakers Corner to Istana Park and then back to Bugis Street, where they will complete the Detour... then move on to Istana Park again!??!

That's around about 30 to 45 minutes wasted as compared to the past when the U-TURN was first introduced and the U-TURN locations were always within close proximity and one task will be relatively easier to complete than the other.

« Last Edit: August 03, 2010, 07:30:25 AM by Joab »

Logged

"The Amazing Race shows the best and worst out of you. But if only negative things are shown, then it's probably you. - Jobby"

Anyway, i thought that the U-TURN should always be in close proximity.. and this season it was unfair because C/B had to travel from Speakers Corner to Istana Park and then back to Bugis Street, where they will complete the Detour... then move on to Istana Park again!??!

That's around about 30 to 45 minutes wasted as compared to the past when the U-TURN was first introduced and the U-TURN locations were always within close proximity and one task will be relatively easier to complete than the other.

AR12 the second detours were also apart, and they had to go to some circle for the u-turn...

Although the Amazing Race team of Carol Rosenfeld and Brandy Snow were dating only a few weeks prior to The Amazing Race 16, Carol and Brandy were soon put to the test as a couple when The Amazing Race got underway in Chile. Early in The Amazing Race, Carol and Brandy were dubbed this season's Amazing Race villains when Brandy joked about the tiara of former Miss Teen U.S.A. contestant, Caite Upton who was their Amazing Race competitor with her boyfriend Brent Horne. From the tiara moment on, Carol and Brandy were labeled the mean lesbians by some of The Amazing Race teams, including Louie and Michael who used the Carol and Brandy villain strategy to their Amazing Race advantage.

The morning after the most recent Amazing Race elimination, we went one-on-one with Carol and Brandy to get the straight story on how they felt about being dubbed "the mean lesbians", their Amazing Race strategy, and how the tiara joke got out of hand.

THE DEADBOLT: After running the race, can you guys locate the U.S. on a world map?

CAROL ROSENFELD: Don't take the bait, Brandy.

BRANDY SNOW: [laughs] I'm not opening my mouth. Nice one, though.

CAROL: There was a coup over the weekend in Kyrgyzstan and I had to look it up in an atlas, and I couldn't pronounce it. Then I looked to see how close we were to there.

THE DEADBOLT: [laughs] Looking back, do you think you should've dumbed down your strategy?

CAROL: We would've had to dumb down ourselves. You know, we've been talking about that. Should we have been disingenuous? Should we have been overly friendly to everybody? I think people would've seen right through that. I'm not that good an actress. But the fact of the matter is that we weren't mean.

I made a joke on day one that I thought was funny, and I still do, but other than that, I have yet to see a piece of tape where we were mean to them. She just keeps saying we're the mean lesbians. We're the lesbians. We're the mean lesbians. I'm like, I made a joke and the joke's not mean. We were amazed that the cowboys were racing in their hats. I think it would've been hysterical if she showed up in the fashion tiara. I would've given her more props for doing it.

THE DEADBOLT: As the race went on, aside from the tiara thing, what was it about Brent and Caite that got under your skin?

CAROL: You tell me.

BRANDY: There's no tape. We were totally shocked and amazed. I mean, people are calling it the feud and judging us, and there's no tape. There's no tape because there was no interaction.

CAROL: For the first third of the race, we weren't anywhere near them because they were on a different bus in South America. They were on different buses both times in South America when we were on long bus rides. They were on a different plane all the way from South America to Germany. They were on a different train once we got to Germany and then we were in cars in Germany and France. The first time we ever had any extended amount of time with them would've been at the Charles De Gaulle airport, and we weren't around them. We had gone off to do some research on the internet at a hotel and we weren't near them. So I'm not sure when we were mean. I'd love to see it. I haven't seen it yet and anyone who supports us has said the same thing, "When were you mean? I'm waiting to see it."

THE DEADBOLT: Were they enough of a threat for you guys to U-Turn if you got the chance, or would you have U-Turned Louie and Michael?

CAROL: They were third on the list to us.

BRANDY: They were third on the list. I have to say, had Jet and Cord and Mike and Louie not been available to U-Turn, and they had chosen to U-Turn us, I would've totally accepted it and not had any problem with it. But because it was so out of the blue and so blindsiding with the two strongest teams available to U-Turn, it was stunning to me.

CAROL: Yeah. I think we were in shock more than anything. You have this great strategic opportunity to get rid of the cowboys who are a phenomenally strong team. Really, even when they were at their lowest low, they came back to finish in first place. So here you have this wonderful opportunity and I think we viewed it as not the smartest move in terms of strategy for the game. You know, we didn't know until we saw the tapes the last few weeks about the lesbians, the mean lesbians, over and over and over, and she hated us. I'm like, "Wow!"

BRANDY: I think there was some personal issues for her going on with us. I don't think she liked us for who we were. Obviously she labeled us and hated us for that label. Then I think there was some jealousy. Carol keeps saying that she thinks that my existence sort of stole the limelight away from her, but I think it was really our existence. I think she's smart enough and a savvy enough girl to know that the further along a female/female team got in the race, the more attention it would take away from her because no female/female team had ever won the race.

So we would start getting closer and closer to the final three and we would start getting more and more attention. She's an attention whore. I mean, you can even see it. I watched these episodes and felt actually kind of bad for Brent, - my comments aside - because she throws him under the bus at every turn. I mean, she's commenting on how she's made more goals than he did, or she beat him at this or she did that, and she's constantly speaking for him.

It's been an interesting thing to watch her kind of try to steal the attention at every single turn, and she's managed, I guess, so far to do it fairly successfully. She certainly targeted us as a threat to her. I don't think it had anything to do with a threat to the million dollars, it had to do with a threat to the attention that she felt she deserved and or craved.

THE DEADBOLT: As for Louie and Michael, did they really have a problem with you guys, or was that more of a strategy on their part?

CAROL: You know, I think that also came as a huge surprise to us. To watch Louie refer to me as a snake and a serpent a couple of weeks ago was incredibly disappointing, because that was not how they interacted with us to our face by any stretch of the imagination. So whether it's gamesmanship on their part or how they really feel, I think they were actually a little threatened because they felt like they weren't going to get to the U-Turn first.

In last night's episode, they knew there might be a target on their back, because obviously they had won a couple of legs, but they had to be thinking that the cowboys were the strongest team and that they were the second. The best thing they could do was befriend them and keep them from getting U-Turned. Whether or not they manipulated them and whether or not it was a good choice, I don't really know. I think it was really surprising and very disappointing because it was not at all how they presented themselves to us.

BRANDY: And it's certainly not indicative of the interactions we had with them personally, the respect we extended to them. Like on the steps in Malaysia, I turned to him and go, "Mike, you're a rock star."

CAROL: And it was always, "Good job, you guys," and congratulations when they won. When people would start off each leg, we'd say to everyone, "Good luck today." You never wanted anybody to slip up and be gone, you wished everyone their best. It was like, "We're going to do our best and wherever we ended up doing our best is where we end up." Maybe we were a little naive. We had watched many seasons and didn't see the amount of gamesmanship we saw in our season going on behind the scenes.

BRANDY: We were focused on the race and not the racers, and that was perhaps a naiveté on our part. It is, after all, a race for a million dollars. It is, after all, reality television. Oftentimes there's underhanded or backstabbing dealings and I think that showed through more this season than seasons with Meghan and Cheyne and Tammy and Victor. I mean, there seemed to be a lot less of that kind of gamesmanship and nastiness exchanging between players.

THE DEADBOLT: Since you were only dating a few weeks before the race began, how did that play a part in your chemistry as a team?

CAROL: We bickered quite a bit, but I think we were also both so goal oriented that the bickering never seemed to slow us down. We would put our heads down and finish the task and it was like, "All right, the bickering is just going to be part of the reality." I think part of the reason for the bickering is because most of these tasks, for two women, are f**king grueling.

I mean, carrying a wooden horse? That frigging horse weighed a ton and she's a couple of inches taller than me. I'm bruised up and down my shoulder from that thing. Those tasks, the crawling on your belly in Massiges, that's all upper body strength. That's not something women necessarily have. And carrying those incense sticks, which I thought were going to be twelve inches long not twelve feet long, I mean this stuff is [grueling] for two women running around in men's work boots.

We both have scars on our legs to prove we did it because our feet were rubbed raw by boots in Massiges and boots in Singapore. It's like, lets make this a fair game. Let's have the guys race in heels. Then it's a fair fight and a level playing field. The guys playing G.I. Joe is fun, it's just not our cup of tea. It's not my cup of tea, that's for sure, as you can tell [laughs].

THE DEADBOLT: Was there anything you wish got aired that we didn't see?

CAROL: I think our interaction with Dan and Jordan, our card playing. I would love that.

BRANDY: And Carol and I played cards on the train in Malaysia and we looked and felt like one of the locals, kind of hunched over sitting cross-legged on the lower bunk of a very stinky rickety train. We were playing cards and laughing about the whole situation at that point in time. So I wish that they had shown other teams speaking at least respectfully of us, because it's hard to repeatedly every week watch Caite speak very disrespectfully and hatefully about us.

Steve and Allie had respectful things to say about us and others said we were a strong team. Even something as simple as that gives us props for who we are as individuals and how we played the game versus labeling and hating us for that. So I do wish they had shown some more positive comments about our team, because a fair group of people seem to be buying into this idea that we were mean when there's no tape to back that up. And to be called to task for a comment, a joke, about a tiara that wasn't even made directly to Caite by Carol, is pretty ridiculous.

I mean, Jordan did an amazing, spot on hilarious imitation of Caite, but he's never accused of being mean. So the double standards are difficult. There are a lot of secret scenes that show us being really straightforward about the teams and respectful about their strengths and what they bring to the table. It might've been nice to show that on national television to kind of offset the negative remarks and the hateful remarks that were made.

CAROL: The many times they asked us about them, we were like, "They're young, fast, and they're hungry. They seem to get over their mistakes and not have them hurt to such a degree that they get eliminated." We said that as an add-in item, but it never gets aired.

THE DEADBOLT: Do you think was easy for the teams to scapegoat you because of your sexuality?

CAROL: I think it has something to do with the sexuality and something to do with the fact that it's two women who aren't necessarily intimidated. We're not going to play dumb, because dumbing it down I don't think would've worked too well. You saw the poker players try to lie about who they were last season and that didn't work. That didn't last too long. It was like, "Okay, you're obviously not the do-gooders that you say you are." You know, hindsight is 20/20 and I don't think there's anything that we really would've done differently.

Carol and Brandy is the sort of team that'd split opinion. Take it from me on this one: in the early legs of the race they came across as this annoying, snobbish team. In the later legs, however, they got their act together and became this focused team, and suddenly I don't mind seeing them far on the race. So, I'll admit, I felt a little bad when they got U-turned in Singapore on The Amazing Race last Sunday, and were consequently eliminated.

The couple were known for their many lines--witty, rude, choose your pick--and I got to experience just that when I talked to them early today. We talked about their early bickering, their opinion towards Brent and Caite, and that "valet parking" line in Los Angeles.

Why did you decide to join the race?

Carol: It was just such a unique opportunity to travel extensively and have some grand adventure with someone that I had just begun a relationship with, and as such simply seemed too good to pass up.

Who first floated the idea of joining the race?

Carol: Actually, the idea to apply was recommended to us by a mutual acquaintance of ours.

Brandy: We were newly dating and had such great chemistry, so she thought we'd be great on the race.

In the early legs of the race, it seemed like you weren't willing to go through certain tasks--those comments on valet parking and hotel rooms--thus viewers thought you were arrogant. Do you think you were misunderstood?

Brandy: I think we were terribly misunderstood. We were willing to do each and every challenge from the very beginning of the race. The lack of hotels and valet parking didn't affect me in any way.

Carol: We have both traveled extensively but never with such a great degree of sleep deprivation and never having spent so many nights either sleeping on a plane or bus, or wandering around the streets.

Brandy: I've lived in many other countries as a local, no valet parking or hotels involved! (laughs) Also, I am from Utah. I grew up camping and doing strenuous outdoorsy things, so any type of lodging the race had for us, I was ready for. I know how to make myself comfortable in any given situation, and often all it takes is a travel pillow and blanket, which I definitely took with me!

Carol: My joke about "my idea of roughing it is when there is no valet parking" was exactly that, just a joke.

Brandy: That's all it was, a joke! Where did an appreciation for humor, self-effacing at that, go?

Carol: There is a really cute secret scene of us in the streets of Puerta Varas amused over our homeless and moneyless state. Other racers cried and yelled. I have a tendency to use levity in times of great stress but would challenge anyone to go through the same experience and not feel stressed.

You also argued a lot in the early legs, but you decided to get past the bickering and focus on the race. What was that moment like? I'll be honest: I didn't expect you to make it far after all those disagreements.

Brandy: I appreciate your honesty. The truth is, we barely knew one another before embarking on this trip of a lifetime. It was actually between four to five months that we have been dating before we left on the race. Our entire relationship was consumed by the race: auditioning, preparing, then competing. I am quite proud of how well we did given that handicap. All the other teams had had relationships for much, much longer.

Carol: Look, we are two strong-willed, confident women. We agree to disagree but really never let it get in our way--the only time it really affected us was when we spent too much time trying to find the bags in the field in Bariloche. If we had simply tried it for 10-15 minutes we would have ended up in second as opposed to third on that leg. But it taught us a great lesson about how long we should stick with a task before moving on to something else, so in the end, it was absolutely worth it.

Brandy: After our meltdown in Bariloche, we realized that we would not survive either in the race, or together, if we didn't shift our thinking. We decided that it had to be us against everybody else, not us against each other! We recognized early on that if we didn't focus on our game and realize we were not competing against each other but rather against the other players, we would surely be not only eliminated, but miserable, too!

How were you with the other teams? Your short-lived tie-up with Joe and Heidi raised some eyebrows, but soon it seemed only a couple of teams didn't like you a lot.

Carol: I don't think we viewed our alliance with Joe and Heidi as short-lived. Rather, we ended up in separate vehicles shortly thereafter and we always wished them success in every subsequent leg.

Brandy: We ran a great leg with Heidi and Jo and I have nothing but respect for them. I chose to focus on the race, not the other racers. It was far more important for me to show up each leg and do my absolute best, give it my 110%.

Did you really dislike Brent and Caite, or were you just frustrated by them? Have you since talked to them?

Carol: Can't say that I have spoken to them and really don't expect to. I also wouldn't say that I disliked them because the truth is, we were never around them for any significant period of time so I really didn't have a chance to form an opinion in one way or another.

Brandy: Until the U-turn, I had nothing but kindness and support for Brent and Caite.

Would it have made a difference if another team slapped you with a U-turn?

Carol: We considered it to be a strategic opportunity to eliminate a stronger team.

Brandy: I would have been equally stunned had Mike and Louie managed to U-turn us. It just does not make good strategic sense to target us. We were not the strongest team, physically, and we had never won a leg of the race.

Carol: I don't think we considered ourselves to be that big a threat in terms of outrunning or out-lifting the other teams so it just doesn't seem like the smartest decision at the time.

What was the most memorable part of the race for you?

Carol: There were so many incredible sites. I personally loved South America and cannot wait to go back. The Champagne region of France was gorgeous, and with a couple of glasses of champagne probably even more enjoyable. Even Massiges, though the task was grueling, was very moving when you consider its history dating back to World War I and the soldiers that died there. And I loved Malaysia with its mix of three different cultures.

Brandy: I left bits and pieces of myself across the race course. There is not one moment that sticks out for me over any other. Everything from traversing the high wire, to bungee jumping, to the gorgeous helicopter ride in the Seychelles and those damn incense sticks has left an imprint on me. I am forever changed for having done the race, and for that I consider myself very lucky!

You've been dating for five months or so before joining the race. How has the whole experience benefited your relationship?

Brandy: I learned a lot about Carol in a very short period of time, and about us together. I am very proud of how we were able to show up and complete each task despite exhaustion, hunger and stress.

Carol: Look, we got to share something incredible that very few people get the opportunity to do, so from that perspective I feel humbled, honored and privileged to have participated. I'm proud of the fact that we never gave up, we never cried or threatened to quit when we didn't like the tasks we were faced with.

Brandy: Although we bickered a bit, we never gave up, we supported each other and we did our best and for that I am very proud.

Carol: Our goal was simply to do our best and not worry about the things we couldn't control and I think by and far we have achieved that goal.

Hmmm...didn't Luke said that the producers tried to stir drama during Pit Stops while spreading false rumors? Maybe that's what created this invisible feud. Either the producers begun it or it was Mike & Louie's strategy from the beginning.

Logged

The story so far:In the beginning the Universe was created.This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move

Hmmm...didn't Luke said that the producers tried to stir drama during Pit Stops while spreading false rumors? Maybe that's what created this invisible feud. Either the producers begun it or it was Mike & Louie's strategy from the beginning.